Elizabeth Towns – Writer/Mother/Sister/Editor – Buckeye. Raised right here in the CO (Columbus, Ohio), youngest of 7, I live it because I love it. Recently widowed…divorced. Daughter – Bobbi 12, Sons, Darius 23, Elijah 5.
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4!>What steps do minorities need to take to create a better community for our children?
We need to take a step back. We have a habit of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as my Grandma used to say. I believe there are some essential and basic building blocks from our community history that we need to grab and pull forward with all of our might. I can recall that when my sisters and I were young, when we left our Catholic middle school and were bussed to our drop off spot at St. Dominic over by Sawyer Center in East Columbus, before we got to the corner of Mt. Vernon and Champion Avenue’s, my parents had already received a phone call to alert them that their ‘chicks’ were en route from the bus stop.
If we were not home in a certain number of minutes, a full Calvary would be rallied. See, the elders in the community pretty much knew what time the bus from Holy Rosary and Pope John, the other two schools in the trio of Catholic Schools we attended, dropped off at St. Dominic. They knew when the 3 Sanders chickens got to the bus stop, and what routes they should be walking and just about when they should be getting home. If there was any deviation in this plan, they knew what to do – and felt confident that in doing what was necessary, they had the full authority to act as parent emeritus.
Here is what is intrinsic in that short diatribe:
Not once did any member of our community fear the reaction of one of us girls. Although this particular short story is about 3 of the Sanders girls, there are 7. Not one of us would have ever spoken out of turn to an adult acting in place of one our parents. We had been taught, from the womb, to respect authority. This teaching began at home, continued at church, and extended to school, where each and every one of our figures of authority resembled us, until the misleading of black America into not separate but still not equal and now misused and poorly educated – oh, I mean, desegregation. That is a whole other book, series, thesis, and dissertation.
Not once did any member of our community fear the reaction of our parents to their actions. Because they knew each other well. They INTERACTED with each other on a regular basis. It was important. Socialization was church. It was entertainment. It was bootleg. It was routine. It was the way the community protected families and children. Ms. Moore knew that the man who was talking to Cassandra was NOT from this community, and called Mr. Tom and Dad immejutly. Posse up. That man NEVER returned to this community again. This is not to say there were not hurts that took place inside of the community, but it is to say, the community maintained a protection from anything that was not it’s own.
5!> Are we living the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King spoke of in his "I Have A Dream" speech?
No, we are not living the dream of Dr. King in its completion. We are living parts of it, but to live a dream, you have to know the components of it. Very few of our generation know anything about Dr. King’s dream. We have this part right here down to a science: ‘one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.’
We are living parts of the dream – the dream in transition, if you will. There are pockets of us, remnants, who are working the dream. The dream says that we realize opportunities now that would have cost us our lives if we had spoken them in whispers before. The dream in transition says that we can discuss why black men want white women on national television without opening a mass grave to deliver our massacred menfolk the next day. It says that our daughters and sons can become experts at something besides rapping and dribbling, like spelling and spoken word, and be recognized across races and genre’s, breaking racial stereotypes and opening up new doors of discussion.
No, we aren’t living the dream, but we are travailing in the transition.
6!> What beliefs do you hold onto that motivate you to do what you do?
First, I believe that what God has for me, it is for me. The Word says that man makes a plan and God directs the path. If I make a plan, God will direct my footsteps on a sure path. If I am planless, I am pathless. Next, I believe that God has given me gifts for a reason – there has to be some purpose for my passion, and if it is to bring somebody else’s gift into focus, then I have to do it – because if just one person’s gift misses focus because I am out of focus, I could be affecting Kingdom ministries. It’s all divine.
10!> What do you think do you think about the divorce rate being at %50 percent and what do you think could change this?
The divorce rate is way higher than 50% in the world, and higher still inside of the church. What we can do to change this is to change from within and provide tools for success in relationships. Stop teaching self gratification, self elaboration, self importance, entitlement, independence as a weapon.
We need to supply the basics of relational building early on in life – not after the “I do’s”. Way prior to this, children, youth, teens, young adults, adults, elders – should be learning how to be a good communicators, great parts of a whole, relationship builders, history as an honor, not as an excuse, rites of passage….these are the only ways to decrease the divorce rate – increase the knowledge base.
12!> Do you believe that college or higher education necessary to be successful?
That depends on that at which you want to be a success. The Trends in Higher Education Series from 2009 reports it this way (and because I like to work smarter and not harder):
Benefits to Individuals
• There is a positive correlation between higher levels of education and higher earnings for all racial/ethnic groups and for both men and women.
• In addition to earning higher wages, college graduates are more likely than others to enjoy employer-provided health insurance and pension benefits.
• The income gap between high school graduates and college graduates has increased significantly over time. The earnings benefit is large enough for the average college graduate to recoup both earnings forgone during the college years and the cost of full tuition and fees in a relatively short period of time.
• The considerable non monetary rewards of a college education include better health and greater opportunities for the next generation.
• Any college experience produces a measurable return when compared with none, but the benefits of completing a bachelor’s degree or higher are particularly large.
Societal Benefits
• Higher levels of education correspond to lower unemployment and poverty rates. So, in addition to contributing more to tax revenues than others do, adults with higher levels of education are less likely to depend on social safety-net programs, generating decreased demand on public budgets.
• The earnings of workers with lower education levels are positively affected by the presence of college graduates in the workforce.
• College graduates have lower smoking rates, more positive perceptions of personal health, and healthier lifestyles than individuals who did not graduate from college.
• Higher levels of education are correlated with higher levels of civic participation, including volunteer work, voting, and blood donation, as well as with greater levels of openness to the opinions of others. Given the extent of higher education’s benefits to society, gaps in access to college are matters of great significance to the country as a whole. This report shows that despite the progress we have made in improving educational opportunities, participation in higher education differs significantly by family income, parent education level, and other demographic characteristics.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a higher education to be successful. What it does say is that having a higher education adds to the value of your success. Yes, I do – B.A./M.A. Journalism – The Ohio State University.
13!> What is your definition of SUCCESS?
My definition of success is living to the limit with what you currently possess; using all of the talent, time and energy you have within yourself to fulfill God’s plan for you right now. That is success. It is being satisfied with what God has for you now. Seek ye first (now) the kingdom of Heaven and all of its righteousness – the all other things will be added unto you. There is so much wisdom in God’s Word. Some trust in Chariots – meaning that they think they can win the race because they have amassed or designed the most efficient material to get to the end result; and some trust in horses – meaning that they think if they have the fastest physical methods they can get to the end, win, quicker than anyone else. But we will remember the name of the Lord our God – I think of success as knowing that none of my accomplishments are on my own accord – they are to the glory of God and because of His favor. That is success.
20!> How far do you feel we as Americans have gotten away from “Family Values” and is there any reality in a “White-picket Fence” dream??
Whose dream is that? Who wants a white picket fence? In all of my dreams, I have never seen my mansion with a white picket fence in it. I am not sure as an African American I ever truly embraced the American dream. My American dream never resembled the ‘American Dream’. I love going to baseball games, but it is not my favorite sport. Apple is my favorite pie, but I promise nobody had ever put ice cream or cheese on it or there WILL be an issue. I love living in the inner city, it is full of personality, energy, complexity, livelihood, vitality. Even when I visit other cities – I look for the areas that resemble the Lincoln District and campus. This is where you can find a real slice of the diversity of any city. I think what we need is a real definition of family values – the propaganda versus reality. Maybe we have gotten away from the media-LeaveIttoBeaverJuneandWardCleaverpropaganda- and moved on to the true picture of Family Values.
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